Redmann

Hello! Before I really answer your question, please let me preface it with something you might have heard before but... 7 weeks is a bit too soon to tell about anything. From my research and understanding (and here's another necessary preface - I am not a doctor, each case is different, do not take this as medical advice, etc) in most cases the redness should be gone by about 12 weeks, maybe 16. That is the sign of a well done procedure. Sure, in some cases it might take 5 months or maybe 6, but not much more than that in my opinion. Anything more than that is a sign that something went wrong - incisions too deep / shallow, wrong punch used, excessive trauma, etc. And it should get progressively better with time. From what I have seen myself (caveat above still applies) - there is a correlation between lingering redness and poor yields. Now, on my case: It's been almost exactly 10 months and the redness still lingers. My growth has been so poor that I have even given up on that. If I can just fix this redness somehow I'll be happy to give up the follicles (I might actually have to because they look so naff). Is it improving? A little, maybe. I am still not sure, despite having had multiple treatments for it over the past 4 months. So, treatments, ie what can you do? The first port of call is vascular lasers. You might have read it here before (the posts above are still some of the best sources for info on this) but V-Beam is something a lot of people have had good results with. It is just a specific type / brand of pulse-dyed laser, made by Candela, but it is one of the go-to-brands. One of its advantages is that it can be delivered such that it does not harm the follicles. That is what I have been doing. I have had 4 treatments so far. I think I see some marginal improvement. I will do a couple more sessions. If by then I can definitely say this is improving, I will continue. Other alternatives are LED therapy (such as Dermalux). That is very minimally invasive (actually just a light you shine on your red area). It's a low-risk, low-return kind of treatment. PRP is also a possibility. There are only small-scale studies for this, but in one of those (done with only 40 subjects) the group receiving PRP *during* the procedure showed no cases of redness after 6 months. The control group had 2 (so 2/20 vs 0/20). Slightly more uncharted territory. Also, microneedling - Some people have had success with it to restore texture. This is an option much further down the line. A question - Has your doctor / clinic tested the area for infection? There is also the possibility of a low-level infection or folliculitis. It should not be difficult to do a swab test. If it turns out positive, dang, you've got an infection. But at the same time, great, you treat that and your problem should go away. I've done one and it came back negative. So, sorry for the long-winded response, but hope it helps! My humble bottom-line is - It's too early to tell. Rule out infection. Wait until 6 months. Then start thinking of V-Beam, maybe. Also: Do yourself a favour and take consistent photos of the area. Consistent meaning, always the same (good) lighting, same angles, in regular periods. That way you can genuinely compare if there has been natural progress. If possible, have someone else check it for you, as there are of course daily fluctuations and we are not the best at evaluating ourselves. Hope this helps!

Yes, thanks a million Harry! This is great info and should be much more widely available. One common thread that seems to run through all the perma-redness sufferers people here is the indifference or just outright dismissiveness of HT practicioners. This might be a minority issue (though probably not as infrequent as they would like to believe), but the response invariably seems to be - This is normal, just give it time, or even worse, "There is no redness".

Thanks, that's a good shout as well. I'm reluctant to use a topical steroid because it might cause skin thinning, which would make the redness work in the long term. But oral is a good idea. They have been quiet indifferent / useless in the follow-up so far, but I'll ask!

Many thanks all. I'm ok with waiting another year for results, even. It's the redness I'm most concerned about now. My skin is quite pale, but it hasn't improved since about 1 month in, so I'm looking at PRP as a way to help that. I've seen indicative (though not conclusive) evidence that PRP during surgery reduces incidents of redness by 6 months. In case anyone is interested... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5064679/ So I'm trying to figure how much it would help after the fact, at which point in time, etc. There might be just one way to find out, of course...

Hi all, I've had a HT done 5 months ago - 2000 grafts in London. The results so far are not encouraging - most of all because of persistent redness in my recipient area that is not improving. I can live with having to wait 12-18 months for results, but this redness should have gone by now, or at least be getting better. So I'm considering getting PRP in my recipient area to help with the healing / redness. Any thoughts on this? Would PRP help so long after the procedure? Or is 5 months too soon after the HT? Many thanks for any words of wisdom!

Looks very nice, man. Take this from a guy who fell into the trap of doing it in the UK and not going abroad, and 4+ months in has nothing even close to those results. Seems you have done the right thing!

All that everyone said above - It really is still early days in your case. Good luck and keep well!

Also, for what it's worth... Try to avoid recommendations by salesmen posing as consumer advocates, endorsements, etc. and don't go by media appearances, articles and such. All those are meaningless and speak only to a clinic / surgeon's self-promotion skills, nothing to do with HTs.

Just checking... Are you having scarring on your donor or recipient area?

Just wanted to with the OP the best. Not much to add here technically that others who know a lot more about this haven't. This might sound trite but... Try not to blame yourself if you can. All of of us could always have done more research, been a little bit less naive, etc - But it's ultimately not your fault that someone is simply bad at their job. Hope this helps!

Adding some photos here... (edit was due to format) 4 weeks after procedure 4+ months after procedure Lighting is key to understanding the redness as other posters mentioned. Here's a couple where you can really see it. The one under low light is admittedly low quality, but it shows the contrast between natural and recipient skin clearly. 4+ months after procedure

Hi HappyMan, thanks for checking this. You are correct that I am prescribing this all myself, and I totally agree that is far from ideal. I have based a lot of this on a couple of threads here - by far the most informed and thorough info I found about this anywhere - especially the posts by Jay Bandana, Unbald Eagle, and Harry for Real: https://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/topic/48816-very-red-at-2-months-transplant-disaster-health-issue-or-just-luck/ https://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/topic/67208-redness-pitting-cobblestone-after-3-transplants/#comment-692604 In particular the post by Unbald Eagle on the second thread is a great summary. I do this because, as Jay also says, a lot of HT surgeons are a bit oblivious (the honest ones due to no ill will) to this problem. My own clinic I already know I can't trust anymore, unfortunately. That said, I do have a consultation with a dermatologist this coming week - a laser specialist - and should be able to find out more.

Hi all, new member here. It's been just over 4 months since I got an absolute butcher job done on me in London. The short version: early 40s, NW 5/6, 2000 grafts. So far, everything that could have gone wrong, has gone wrong. But my overwhelming concern for now is the lingering, persistent redness in my recipient area. Never mind the considerable shock loss, the sparse density, the patchiness. I know 4 months is still "early days", even if we all know it would take a bit of a miracle. But frankly, at this point I don't even care about "results". It's the redness that still massively concerns me because a) it is a massive tell-tale, b) it's still the same as it was 3 weeks in, and c) if it didn't get better by now, with each week chances increasingly are it never will. So I'm looking for tips on V-Beam treatment. I've read some people here had it done with good results. On that - Massive THANKS to everybody on this forum, as without it I would not have known about V-Beam. Where did you get it done? Was it in the UK? How much did it cost? Really appreciate any input. On the procedure itself, I'll post some photos below so you can have a look too - Many thanks for your opinions on that as well. I've frankly lost all faith in my clinic. Please PM me if you want to know more, just don't want to reveal it in public yet. But, predictably, all they (well, their sales / front person, as seeing a doctor is nigh-on impossible) have said is - "Everything is fine", "There is no redness", "Give it time". In fact, they changed the surgeon who was going to do my procedure on the day. It was one of their junior surgeons. So, yes, on the day of the procedure I am presented at the last minute with this junior surgeon I had never seen before. Yes, all this in the UK. Not one of those daaangerous hair-tourism destinations, oh no siree, safe, developed, reputable London. I naively said yes. Looking back, I was naive about the whole thing - Isn't hindsight wonderful. There were a lot of signs I saw but somehow ignored, thinking for all the slickness the work would be good. After all, this is a long-standing clinic. With endorsements. With recommendations. Whose doctors appear in the media. And so on. So I'm here just trying to find some kind of way to reverse the worst aspect of all this - the redness. The chances of me getting another FUE (for repair or any other purposes) are zero. I'm happy to wear a grade 1 for the rest of my life and just get on with it now. Am I being impatient? Could this still be turned around? What can we tell about a procedure 6 months in, or 12, that we can't at 4? Thanks a lot for everything, all. This is a tight spot for me at the moment, and this forum has been great help.

Hello all, New member here. I am finding this thread very helpful as well, as I am suffering from extreme persistent redness (4 months in and no improvement since about week 3). Thanks for all the posts. I was wondering if anybody else had success with the V Beam or any other words of wisdom. Unbald Eagle, if you ever read this, I would really appreciate talking to you. I am in the UK as well (London area) - I had my FUE here and, let's say, disappointing so far, both from a results and aftercare perspective. PS - If an admin could enable me for private messages, that would be great too. Thanks all

Hello all, New member here. I have been reading this thread with a lot of interest. Thanks to everyone for their very helpful posts. I have tried to contact Jay on the e-mail he posted above, but it is not working anymore. I really hope he is better now, and has found a solution. (Btw, if anyone has an updated e-mail or any way of contacting him, I would really appreciate that - with his permission of course) So, as you can probably imagine, I too am suffering from persistent redness. Probably not as extreme. But it has been 4 months since my FUE and I can identify with literally every problem - The anxiety, the lack of improvement, above all the hand-waving from my clinic - "Give it time", "Your skin is naturally fair", "It's just extra blood flowing in to help your grafts grow" (!) , "This just does not exist". On that, maybe I have the bad luck of not really being able to trust the clinic that did my FUE anymore. They are based in London. Sorry I can't be more specific in public at this stage. Ever since the surgery, a few things have transpired that confirmed my worst fears - That they are really just another farm grasping for money. I feel naive for not spotting it before. Heck, I even did spot it but convinced myself it would be alright, because for all their slickness the quality of the work would be good. Ha. On that - On the 3 month mark, I went in for a follow up, where I expressed that my main concern was the redness. Their medical director was in the room (although he didn't perform my surgery). The conversation - literally - went like this: "I'm quite concerned about this redn" "THERE IS NO REDNESS!" Exactly as Jay says. So where do I go from here? At this point I am absolutely not worried about the results of the FUE (which don't even seem promising but hey, 4 months). But I literally don't care. I'm more than ready to shave my head to a number 1 for the rest of my life if it means reverting back to where I was pre-procedure. If there are any words of wisdom anyone could offer, they would be much appreciated. Thanks again for all the time and effort you all put into this.